Emma Raducanu’s Harasser Caught Breaching Restrictions Ahead of Wimbledon

Emma Raducanu's stalker followed her to three tournaments before she eventually reported him after sighting him at the Dubai Championships.

Emma Raducanu’s Harasser Caught Breaching Restrictions Ahead of Wimbledon

Emma Raducanu (via X/The Tennis Letter)

The Wimbledon Championship organizers have announced that Emma Raducanu’s stalker was caught trying to apply for tickets for the upcoming grass-court Grand Slam event. The man has now been red-flagged and blocked from attempting to buy any more tickets or gain entrance into the tournament, when it kicks off on June 30.

The aforementioned stalker first approached Raducanu in a hotel in Dubai, a day before her second-round match at the Tennis Championships in February. He gave her a letter and even took a picture of the 22-year-old. However, she had been aware of his presence at WTA tournaments in Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Doha.

During her match against Muchova, she saw the stalker in the stands, which unnerved Raducanu and made her hide behind the umpire chair, eventually causing her to break down in tears. The match was stopped as the man was removed from the stands. He was given a restraining order by the Dubai police and his name was circulated across tennis authorities.

At Indian Wells, she was given personal security to ensure her safety at the tournament. Nonetheless, Raducanu has previously been the victim of a stalker, as another man walked 23 miles to her home in 2022. After that, he was given a five-year restraining order. The British star recently revealed that she’s yet to fully recover from the incident.

Following the announcement that the stalker has been blocked from attempting to buy tickets for the Wimbledon Championship, the organizers have also tightened up security measures. The chief executive of All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) revealed to BBC Sports that they are spending a lot of time on ensuring a security measure a tight at Wimbledon:

We’re liaising with the tours, with the Met Police, with other security agencies right through the year to think about the types of risks we need to look at and adjusting what we put in place. I would say to them [players] they should have confidence when they’re here and if they are concerned on any basis they should come and talk to us about that because we can put bespoke arrangements in place.

Some of the security measures that will be at the tournament are: an estimated 1,000 security operatives, significant CCTV coverage on site, a team of fixated threat specialists, behavioral experts, as well as police and military personnel, and there are other discreet members of the security team too.

Emma Raducanu is likely to lose the British No.1 position after just one week

Emma Raducanu was seeking to be among the 32 seeded players for the Wimbledon Championship, but it failed to materialize. She lost the hopes of reaching the World No.32 after losing to Qinwen Zheng in the quarter-finals of the Queen’s Club Championships. But she rose to World No.36 and reclaimed her place as the new British No.1.

Emma Raducanu (via WTA)
Emma Raducanu (via WTA)

However, she may lose the position of British No.1 as well in quick time after pulling out of the WTA 500 tournament in Berlin. It is reported that she withdrew from the event due to a back spasm, which she suffered at the Queen’s Championships. British No.2 and World No.39 Katie Boulter can quickly overtake her and become the British queen.

Boulter is currently competing at the Nottingham Open, where she’s a two-time defending champion and a star at the event. She just needs to reach the semi-finals in Nottingham to overtake Raducanu and become the British No.1, but the 22-year-old has a chance of getting back into her position at either the Bad Homburg Open or Eastbourne.

Also, at Wimbledon, she has a major challenge as she has to defend her fourth-round run last year. Without being a seeded player at the event, the World No.32 will likely meet a top 10 player before the round of 16. She has struggled against players ranked in the WTA elite, winning just three of her 15 matches.

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